The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by morbilli (measles):
Respiratory system (J00-J99)
- Pneumonia (pneumonia; esp. pregnant women) (6%).
Blood-forming organs – immune system (D50-D90).
- Immunodeficiency, transitory → superinfections (for example, otitis media: 7-9% of cases; pneumonias: 1-6% of cases).
Mouth, esophagus (esophagus), stomach, and intestines (K00-K67; K90-K93).
- Diarrhea (diarrhea; about 8% of cases).
Ears – mastoid process (H60-H95).
- Otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear)
Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99)
- Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), acute primary (incidence: 1/1,000; lethality (mortality based on the total number of people affected by the disease) 25%).
- Measles inclusion body encephalitis (MIBE).
- Postinfectious encephalitis, acute (0.1% of cases).
- Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) – severe course of encephalitis that can usually occur 4 to 10 years (min. 1 month; max. 27 years) after measles infection and is always progressive (progressing); is extremely rare; children in the first year of life who are too young for MMR vaccination are particularly at risk (incidence: 1/∼10,000)
Pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium (O00-O99).
- Abortion and stillbirth rate (8-32%) (1]
- Preterm birth (31%)
Further
- Transitory immunodeficiency (duration: – 6 weeks) → increased rate of bacterial superinfections (second infection)Caused by immunological amnesia (immune amnesia; failure of memory), which lasts an average of 28 months (up to a maximum of 5 years) until the immune system has regained its former defenses. The immune protection is weakened for the influenza virus over the herpes virus up to bacteria, which can cause among other things pneumonia. The measles vaccination itself does not cause immune amnesia.
